The word ‘stream flow’ is used to represent the discharge flowing in the river. It is also sometimes represented by term stream gauging.
The discharge in the stream represents the run-off in the stream at a given section and includes surface run-off as well as ground water flow.
Discharge has to be measured for canals also. Methods of measuring discharge for canals are more or less the same as those adopted for streams. Hence when we talk of measurement of discharge, it means measurement of discharge for both streams and canals.
There may be little bit of difference in the application of the methods.
